


such a sweet face

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Anxiety, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Bisexual Reggie Mantle, Emotional Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned Betty Cooper, Mentioned Fred Andrews, Past Veggie, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reggie Mantle is a Good Friend, Season/Series 03, Secret Crush, Yeah that's it, archies having a rough time and reggie just wants to help, just a little bit of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-23 12:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18151910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: Reggie doesn’t even realize that anything is remotely wrong until Veronica Lodge of all people stops him in the middle of the hallway. She grabs his elbow, pulling him off to the side.“When was the last time that you talked to Archie?” She asks in a low voice.Okay, so that’s not what he was expecting her to say.ORArchie is having a rough time and Reggie just wants to help in any way that he can.





	such a sweet face

**Author's Note:**

  * For [turnofthesentry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnofthesentry/gifts).



> This is for Gabbie (turnofthesentry on ao3, diltonwasright on tumblr), I hope you love it, my friend! Also, after last weeks ep I'm just *assuming* that Veronica and Reggie broke up but then again it's Riverdale so who knows.
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Andy, You're A Star by The Killers.

Reggie doesn’t even realize that anything is remotely wrong until Veronica Lodge of all people stops him in the middle of the hallway. She grabs his elbow, pulling him off to the side.

“When was the last time that you talked to Archie?” She asks in a low voice.

Okay, so that’s not what he was expecting her to say.

They haven’t said much to each other since their “fling” had fizzled out a few weeks ago, but they’ve managed to be civil with each other nonetheless. He thought that maybe Veronica would ask for the calc notes or see if he could pick up another shift at La Bonne Nuit, but definitely not _that_.

“I don’t know, sometime yesterday, maybe the day before,” he supplies; she sighs anxiously. “Why?”

“Because he ran out yesterday while we were studying at Pop’s and no one’s heard from him since; Betty, Jughead, and I all called him a dozen times, but it’s just radio silence. Fred said he never came home last night and he hasn’t been at school today. No one knows where he is.”

Reggie tries to not let it show as his nerves spike to the ceiling. “Okay… so why are you telling me all this? How the hell am I supposed to help?”

Veronica shrugs, “I don’t know. I figured you know Archie just as well as I do- probably even better since you’ve known him longer. You guys are close, aren’t you?”

If by “close” she means that Reggie’s had a secret crush on Archie for the last year and a half, then yeah. They’re close as all hell. 

Sure, it might sound a bit odd seeing as for the longest time Archie and Reggie weren’t even friends, rivals even. The two of them were constantly trying to one-up each other in sports. Gym class was a constant pageant show- Archie could do more laps around the gym, but Reggie could sink more of his shots. Reggie could do more push-ups, but Archie can do a walking handstand.

It wasn’t until they started high school and saw all the upperclassmen that towered over them that the two of them decided to set aside their discrepancies; they’d be stronger together as a pair. It’s one of the handful of choices that Reggie’s made in the last few years of his life that he doesn’t regret in some way.    

He’s known that he’s Bi since he was fourteen, but only just recently found the courage to tell anyone. First, his older sister- who doesn’t even live in Riverdale anymore, luckily- then Moose, his best friend. Reggie figures that since they’re in the same boat that Moose won’t tell anyone, but then again, something about this town has a habit of pulling secrets out of people. Even secrets that don’t belong to them.

Every once and a while he’ll find someone catching some looking at him funny in the grocery store or in class, and Reggie finds himself thinking: _do they know? Did someone figure out my dirty little secret? How long do I have until the rest of the world knows?_

Reggie rolls his shoulders, trying to not let his own anxiousness get the better of him. He furrows his brow, keeping a straight face as he asks, “What do you need me to do?”

“I don’t know, just look for him. It’s not like he could have gotten very far on foot. I mean where would he go besides school or home? We already know he’s not at Pop’s. There’s not exactly a lot of hiding places around town.”

An idea flashes to life in the back of his head out of nowhere, a place he’d almost completely forgotten about. One place that nearly no one knows about.

“I got one idea where he might be.”

///

Reggie drives his car as far into Fox Forrest as he can get without hitting any trees. He knows he probably shouldn’t park in the middle of a hiking trail, but there are other pressing matters at hand, more important things worth worrying about. He looks around carefully as he exits his car, making sure there’s no one watching him- making sure no one’s waiting for him to leave just so they can deface Bella.

Yeah. Reggie named his car. So what?

Finding his way to Dilton Doiley’s bunker the second time around- without a map specifically- is harder than he thought it’d be. It’s not until he notices a stray pair of footprints leading away from the trail that he starts to find his way back. When he arrives, the seal to the bunker is already halfway off.

Reggie really hopes that because Archie’s down there and not some tweaked out squatter.

Once’s he’s down there, Reggie can hardly see two feet in front of him. It’s pitch black inside and the light coming in from the top of the bunker does little to help. He shuffles forward, trailing his hand against the wooden wall until it comes into contact with something solid; the light switch. With a flip of his hand, the whole room becomes illuminated, and Reggie can’t believe what he sees in front of him.

Archie Andrews, one of the toughest guys Reggie’s ever known, is curled on his side with his arms pulled over his head, tremoring like he’s worried something is going to _hurt_ him. 

Reggie doesn’t know whether to hug him or just leave him be. He doesn’t want to make the situation worse- but he’s gotta do _something_.

“Hey, Archie, relax,” he says softly, reaching for Archie’s shoulder, “It’s okay, it’s just Reggie.”

Archie settles minorly under Reggie’s hand. He pulls his arms away from his face just enough to look up at him; his eyes are bloodshot beyond belief. “Reg?”

“Yeah, dude, it’s just me, I promise.”

Archie sighs heavily, rolling onto his back and throwing his arm over his face; there’s a pink tint flushing his cheeks.

“You alright?”

“…thought you were the gargoyle gang, trying to break in.”

Ah. So that’s why he was so freaked out. The more that Reggie put the pieces together the more that his heart breaks for Archie. It’s painfully obvious that he’s hurting, how could no one have noticed until now?

“Veronica said you ran out last night, no one knew where you were.”

“I couldn’t go home. I didn’t want my dad to worry- does he know where I am?”

Reggie shrugs, “Don’t know. You wanna call him? Let him know what’s going on?”

Archie shakes his head. “No. He’ll just wanna talk. I don’t think I can handle that right now.”

Reggie notices that Archie’s hands are still shaking, like he’s still worried that something’s going to get in and wreak havoc on them both. He looks around, trying to think of a way to help.

“I can shut the door, would that help?”

Archie nods from under his arm; swiftly, Reggie moves towards the opening. He pulls the seal over the entrance just enough that they could still get out if need be, but not enough to let any outside light in. When Reggie gets back to Archie, he’s sitting up with his feet planted on the floor, still hiding his face behind his hands.

Reggie sits down next to him, leaving a few inches of space between them. He doesn’t touch Archie at all until Archie leans into his side, then Reggie decides to sling an arm over Archie’s shoulders, squeezing his upper arm lightly.

He wonders, absently, if Archie can hear just how loudly his heart is beating just from sitting like this with him, in such close proximity.

Archie drops his hands from his face finally; the bags under his eyes are more obvious now, proving just how exhausted he really is.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Arch- why’d you run out of Pop’s in the first place?”

“…you’re gonna think I’m dumb, if I tell you.”

_Fat chance,_ Reggie thinks. “Oh yeah? Try me.”

Archie bites his lip, pulling it between his teeth. “One of the waitresses spilled cherry syrup everywhere- on the counters and the floor- it reminded me of the Black Hood. When he shot my dad… it all looked the same.

Shit. That’s not what Reggie was expecting Archie to say at all. “Wow, that’s- that sounds awful.”

“I thought I was back there, for a minute. It all felt so real, like it was happening all over again. I had to get out of there, it was freaking me out too much. I didn’t know where else to go… I guess this seemed like the most reasonable place.”

“Sure, if you’re trying to escape your problems,” Reggie says in a short tone. “Sorry, I- that wasn’t very helpful.”

“S’fine, Reg,” Archie replies. “It’s not like you’re wrong… no offense, but I wasn’t really expecting anyone to come looking for me.”

A silence grows around them; Reggie taps his foot anxiously, trying to think of something that he could say to Archie that would magically fix this situation, that could make him wanna go home and talk to his dad about everything that’s going on, but nothing comes to him. Before Reggie can find the words for a new topic of conversation, Archie lets his own thoughts tumble out of him.

“I hate being afraid all the time.” He mutters, fitfully. “It’s so stupid, this shouldn’t be bothering me. I thought I’d be over this by now, but it’s like no matter what I do I can’t seem to get away from it.”

Reggie finds himself thinking of his own dad and a tingle runs down his spine. He’s not sure, exactly, when he realized he was afraid of his old man; maybe always. Reggie spends so much of his time walking on eggshells around him, doing anything he can to avoid upsetting him, but nothing he tries ever seems to work. He always finds himself at the receiving end of a verbal insult or his Dad’s fist. It’s a cycle that Reggie wishes so badly that he could break.

Sometimes he thinks about what would happen if he ever decided to tell his old man about liking boys. None of the scenarios that he’s managed to think up have ever played out in his favor; Reggie fears that the real-life consequences would be far worse than anything he could ever imagine. 

He tries to put the idea out of his head and focus on Archie again.

“It’s okay, to be scared about shit like that.”

Archie scoffs at him, head hanging between his shoulders.

“Seriously, I mean it… ‘sides, it’s not always gonna be like this. Just imagine it. Someday we’re all gonna move out, start our new lives, maybe get married or have a few kids- and we won’t have to come back here if we don’t want to. We get to decide how our lives turn out. That sounds pretty good, right?”

Archie just shrugs, still looking exhausted.

Reggie squeezes the back of his neck gently, “When was the last time that you slept, dude?”

“I don’t know,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “Being so on edge all the time is wearing me out; my eyes feel like sandpaper.”

“Why don’t you get a few hours now? I’ll hang out here while you get some sleep, watch the door so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Archie looks up at him, surprised, “Really?”

“Yes, really. C’mon, I promise, I won’t go anywhere.”

Archie looks skeptical, but agrees anyway. Archie rolls over, back facing him as Reggie takes a seat right at the lip of the room, that way he can see Archie and the door at all times.

“Reggie?”

“Yeah?”

“…thanks.”

His heart soars with joy; Reggie’s so glad that Archie can’t see the way that he’s blushing right now.

“Anytime, man,” he finally says. “Now shut up and get some sleep.”

Archie gives a small laugh- a sound that Reggie is all kinds of relieved to hear- then pulls the sheet over his shoulders. It only takes ten minutes for Archie’s breathing to even out. Damn, dude must have been more tired than he was letting on.

Reggie gives it a few more minutes before sending a text to Jughead, saying: _Tell V I found him, we’re in the bunker. He’s sleeping now. I don’t think he’s eaten today._

Jughead response comes not even twenty seconds later: _Alright, I’ll bring some food by later, don’t let him leave till I get there, okay?_

Reggie shoots back a _“sure thing”_ then pockets his phone again, ready to sit and wait, always willing to do anything for the boy that he loves so much.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought this would be longer but it is what it is. To Gabbie- I hope this was everything you wanted and more!
> 
> Hey! Thanks for reading my fic! Comments/Kudos are greatly appreciated and encouraged


End file.
